Sympathy for the Devil
by Lovely Helena
Summary: Violet's boyfriend just died from a drug overdose. Tate was his best friend and also his drug dealer. Violet hasn't shed a tear since she found out that her boyfriend died, and Tate is nowhere to be found until the day of the funeral.


_I want to thank Hotmesssituation for naming the title of this story! _

_**This is a one shot, that could become a story if you like it, about Violet and Tate. Violet's boyfriend dies from a drug overdose. Tate was her boyfriend's best friend and drug dealer. Violet is putting up a good front to everyone, showing them how strong she is during this tragedy. That all comes crashing down when she runs into Tate at the funeral. **_

_Rating: Mature (because I can't write anything but mature stories haha)But it's only for language right now._

"I just don't know what to do! How am I supposed to handle a situation like this?" Violet's mother, Vivien, was flustered as she rearranged everything in the kitchen. She had already rearranged all of the furniture in the living room and dining room. Keeping busy was the only productive thing that she could do at this point. There was nothing she could say that could make her daughter feel any better.

Violet's best friend, Harry, was sitting at the kitchen table, watching Vivien act like a mental patient. Her constant running around was making him nervous. He continuously rubbed his palms against the rough denim of his black skinny jeans, wiping the sweat off of his hands.

"Mrs. Harmon, I don't think there is anything you can do."

Vivien stopped moving around and looked at Harry. Tears filled her eyes. "She hasn't even cried… Not a single tear. She is acting like nothing is wrong."

Harry was worried that something like this would happen. He knew how fragile Violet was, and her way of dealing with tragedy was to completely shut down her emotions, acting like she was fine. She would just smile through it.

"I called you to come over because you're her best friend. You know her better than anyone, even me. Please, can you help her start to cope with this?" Vivien was desperate.

Harry tried to smile. "I'll try." He got up and walked towards the stairs, heading for Violet's room. He found her shuffling around her room, rearranging everything.

"You're more like your mother than you think." Harry joked lightly as he walked into the room.

Violet looked up from where she was moving things around on her desk. She turned her eyes back to the desk when she saw that it was Harry. "Did my mother send you up here?" She completely ignored his previous comment. She was nothing like her mother. She knew she was stronger.

"Vi, darling…" Harry moved up behind her and placed a hand on her lower back. Violet shook her head and stepped away from him, moving towards her bed.

"Don't, Harry. Just don't… I'm fine." She turned to him with a smile on her face.

Harry shook his head. "No, you're not!" His voice rose with annoyance. "You can't be okay because your boyfriend just died!"

Violet stared at him in shock. He had never talked to her that way before. Harry instantly felt awful for what he said. "Look, I'm sorry… I just had to say it. I can't stand watching you walk around like nothing is wrong."

Violet took a deep breath, taking control of her emotions. "What do you want to me to do? My boyfriend killed himself from taking too many drugs, and now everyone expects me to fall to the ground in tears. Sorry, but I'm not giving them the satisfaction of seeing the weak side of me."

Harry took a few steps forward so that he was close enough to look down at Violet. He took her hands in his, holding on to them. "I thought we were best friends."

"We are."

"Really? Because best friends shouldn't hide their emotions from each other."

Violet looked up at Harry. "I'm sorry. I just… I can't even admit it to myself yet. I can't believe that he's gone… It's my fault."

Harry felt tears bubble in his eye sockets. "Vi… You can't think like that. He loved you. His death had nothing to do with you."

Violet pulled her hands away from Harry's, turning away from him. "He loved me, but I didn't love him the same way…"

"What are you talking about?"

"The night he died… I told him that I didn't love him. The connection wasn't there. I didn't feel… Anything. And now he's gone." Violet bit back the tears that threatened to fall. "I don't deserve to cry."

Harry wrapped his arms around Violet from behind. "You need to cry, Violet. You have to cope with this, or it will tear you apart."

Violet shook her head. "I didn't deserve someone as amazing as him. He only thought about me and what I needed, and I just threw his love away."

Harry squeezed his hold on Violet. "We can't choose who we love. You can't make yourself love someone that isn't meant to be with you."

Violet chuckled at Harry's words. "When did you become so wise?"

"I've always been wise." He replied cheekily. "And I'll always be here for you, wanting what's best for you because I love you."

Violet relaxed into his embrace. "I love you, too. Can you just stay here with me right now? No demanding that I cope or cry or whatever. Just sit here with me, please?"

Harry took a deep breath and agreed despite his better judgment. He never could say no to Violet.

…

Today was the day of the funeral, and it was also the day that Violet had been dreading. She could deal with the whispers coming from her classmates in the hallways and classrooms at school. She could deal with her parents constantly insisting that she eat more because she was "getting too thin", according to them. She could deal with Harry looking at her with sad eyes, waiting for her to finally give in and cry. She could deal with everything, but she couldn't deal with the one person that she hadn't seen since the tragedy.

That person was Tate, her boyfriend's best friend and drug dealer. She feared that he would be the one to finally break her down.

"Violet?" Harry's deep voice pulled Violet from her thoughts. She looked away from the car window and turned her head towards him. "We're here." Violet looked back out the car window. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed that the car was stopped in front of the funeral home. Her hands started to shake in her lap. "Vi?" Harry reached over and took one of her hands in his. Violet turned back towards him and smiled slightly.

"I guess it's now or never." Her voice was barely audible.

"Hey." Harry lifted Violet's chin with the tips of his fingers. "I'm right here. I'll be by your side the entire time."

"Thank you." Violet squeezed his hand.

Harry nodded and opened the door before getting out and helping Violet out of the car. Violet shaded her eyes against the blaring California sunlight. It seemed wrong for the weather to be so bright during such a dark occasion. She intertwined her arm around Harry's, placing her hand in the crook of his elbow.

Harry leaned close to Violet's ear, whispering. "Grown up face."

Violet smiled at his words, noticing the inside joke from years ago. "Grown up face." She nodded and hid all of the emotion on her face to mirror Harry's expression.

Harry and Violet entered the funeral home looking like two strong best friends. The entire building was packed full of people. Once everyone was seated or standing in the back, the preacher made his way to the podium to start the event. "We are all gathered here today to celebrate the youthful life of Andrew…"

Violet stopped listening at that point. She couldn't bear to listen to the heartfelt words that his parents, family, and friends spoke. When she was asked if she wanted to speak, she politely shook her head and held on tighter to Harry. No one pressured her, thinking that she was too distraught to speak even though she still hadn't shed a tear. During the entire ceremony, Violet's eyes were scanning the room, searching for any sight of Tate.

"Love, it's over." Harry whispered into Violet's ear, slowly pulling her into a standing position. Violet clung to Harry as he led her out of the building and down the grassy hill to where the casket would be buried. Violet watched in silence as the casket was slowly lowered into the ground, listening to the sobs around her. Everything felt like a dream, like she wasn't fully experiencing it.

Violet stood completely still as the people around her started to walk away and leave. In the end, the only two people left were her and Harry.

"You can go… I'm going to stay here for a bit longer." Violet's voice shook slightly.

Harry looked apologetically at her for a second before nodding. "I'll go wait in the car for you so that I can give you a ride home. Okay?"

Violet nodded. Harry leaned in to kiss her on her cheek before walking up the hill, leaving Violet alone.

"I'm sorry…" Violet whispered into the air. "I'm so sorry."

"You shouldn't be." A voice from behind her made Violet jumped. She turned around and saw Tate standing a few feet behind her. She was frozen for a few seconds as she stared at him.

"You…" She breathed, taking a few steps forward to close the space between them. Tate smiled down at her, leaning in close. Violet leaned in closer before bringing her hand up and slapping Tate across the face with all of the strength she had left. Tate grunted as his head swung to the side.

"Violet!" He gasped.

Violet threw her hands up, pushing Tate's shoulders backward. "You son of a bitch! Where have you been?" Without giving Tate time to answer she shoved him hard again, causing him to stumble backward. "Why haven't you been here?" She screamed and shoved him again. This time his back collided with the wall of an old mausoleum. "He was your best friend! He loved you! You don't give a shit about anyone but yourself!" Violet continued to scream and beat her fists against Tate's chest.

Tate just pressed his back against the wall and let Violet work her anger out on him. He had been around all week, but he had been purposefully hiding from her. He didn't want to make this harder on her, and he could see that Harry was taking care of her. He knew that she hadn't shed a tear yet, and when she suddenly fell into his arms in hysterics, he was a little surprised. His arms instantly wrapped around her small frame, holding her closely to him as her body shook with sobs.

"Shh, Vi. I've got you." Tate whispered into her ear.

"I needed you… And you never showed up. I fucking need you!" Violet cried.

"No, you don't. I'm nothing but trouble, and you are better off without me."

Violet pulled her head away from Tate's chest and looked up into his eyes. "Are you kidding?"

"No, Violet. I'm serious. I can't ruin your life like I ruined Andrew's."

"But.." Violet started to argue, but Tate's lips stopped her by pressing against hers. Violet automatically leaned into the kiss, whimpering and pressing her lips against Tate's. The dream world that she had been floating through all week shattered around her, and she was pulled back into reality as Tate's lips moved against hers. Violet lost her breath from the feeling if his lips and all of the emotions that were suddenly raging through her body. She clung tightly to Tate's arms, afraid that she might fall to the ground if she let go.

"Violet!"

Violet pulled away from Tate when she heard her name being called. She looked up the hill and saw Harry standing at the top with a shocked look on his face.

"Goodbye, Violet." Tate whispered before letting her go and walking away.

Violet turned to Tate. "Tate!" She called out, but he didn't turn around. "Tate, please!" She sobbed, but he continued to walk away from her. Violet let out another sob. Her knees buckled under her suddenly heavy weight, and she started to fall to the ground but was stopped by strong arms wrapping around her.

"You have a lot of explaining to do." Harry's words made Violet shiver.

…

"Talk." Harry insisted as he placed a hot cup of tea in front of where Violet was sitting at his kitchen table.

Violet took the cup in her hands, liking how the warmness spread through her freezing fingers. "What do you want to know?"

"Let's start with everything."

Violet sighed. "Okay, well about a year ago I started seeing Tate secretly." Harry gave Violet a look. "I know, I know, you don't have to look at me like that. I'm not proud of what I did by any means. I just couldn't help it… I couldn't stop it. I tried, I promise, but every time I was around him it seemed like we were drawn together. We knew that what we were doing was wrong, and we agreed to never tell Andrew. Everything was fine until the day he caught us."

"Are you serious?" Harry asked, shocked.

Violet nodded. "When I told you that I told him that I didn't love him, I was only telling you half of the truth. I did tell him that, but it was after he walked in on Tate and me… Well, you know…"

Harry shook his head. "Violet…"

"I know, okay? It kills me that this happened. I can still see Andrew's face, how broken he looked. It was like I watched him die right there. He just shook his head at us and left. I tracked him down later that night and tried to talk to him and explain. I told him about my feelings and waited for him to yell or anything, but he never did. He just walked away. Maybe I wouldn't feel so awful if he had gotten mad… That was the last time I saw him."

Tears were streaming down Violet's cheeks and falling into her tea. "It's my fault that he's dead. He didn't accidentally overdose. He was smart and knew how much was too much. He took too much on purpose. I broke him, and the worst part is that I still love Tate. I love him, and he left me… I'm all alone now."

Violet jumped when Harry's cup shattered against the kitchen wall. "Are you fucking serious right now, Violet? You think you're alone? Can you not see what's in front of you? Me! I'm right here! I've been here all along…" Harry yelled at her.

Violet sunk lower in her seat, scared by Harry's outburst. "I'm sorry, Harry. I… I just…"

"Damn it, Violet…" Harry ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have freaked out like that… It just hurts so fucking badly when you always overlook me."

"Harry… I'm an awful friend. I'm sorry. I love you. I do." Violet stood up from her chair and walked over to Harry, standing in front of him. "You're my best friend." She placed her hands against his cheeks.

Harry looked up at her. "Friends…"

"I wish… I wish that I had fallen in love with you, Harry. Everything would be so easy then. We could both be happy… But, we can't choose who we fall in love with."

Harry chuckled as a tear slipped down his cheek. "Who gave you that awful advice?"

"Oh, just my best friend." Violet smiled and winked before pulling Harry against her chest, hugging him tightly.

"I love you, too Violet, and I want you to be happy. I'll go find Tate and bring him here so you two can talk. Okay?"

Violet pulled back so that she could look at Harry. "Really? You'd do that for me?"

Harry stood up, looking down at her. "I'd do anything for you." He leaned forward and placed a kiss on Violet's forehead before grabbing his coat and walking out the door.

Violet took a deep breath and sat down where Harry had been sitting. It had been a long and trying day.

_**What do you think? Should I continue? Feedback is loved. **_


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